I get two hours kip before multiple alarm clocks sound. My lift arrives early (at 03.45) so we get to Hurghada airport in good time. No sign of the other 3 so good job I set an alarm. I do hope they don't run into any gay dwarfs as the current record is not good!

Now the fun begins....

The check-in at Hurghada is smooth and the girl checks my bag all the way to Bangkok.

10 minutes later she comes to see me and tells me that as I may want to leave Cairo airport during the day (I have a 15-hour stopover there) I will need to get my bag back in order to leave the airport. Now this seems stupid to me. I don't want the bag in Cairo, I don't need the bag until I get to Bangkok so I don't want it. Strangely enough, when dealing with this kind of situation, the almost fluent girl suddenly seems to not understand anything and a blank look appears!!

She takes my boarding card (Cairo-Mumbai) and returns with a new luggage ticket saying I need to retrieve my bag in Cairo. I ask her if there are facilities to stow my bag at Cairo and get another blank look and something mumbled in what sounds like the affirmative. Even at this stage I know something's not going to be good!

Before the agent comes out to us again we get a call saying we have been cleared and can now come into the marina.

The rib comes out to guide us again and this time we ARE allowed to stay.

The marina manager, etc., are there to meet us and come on board and have a beer. All smiles this time and it's nice to know that all is good.

After a few beers Tim, Jonnny and Sam decide that they're going into 'town' but as I have to be awake at 0300 for my lift to the airport I sensibly decline. I do get a promise that they'll wake me when they come back in at [about] 3 am :-).

Approaching Hurghada as the sun dips down behind the mountains:

We're in VHF contact with the marina and they inform us they'll send a rib out to meet us and guide us in.

Problem, problem

We tie up in the marina and even before the engines are off we get a phone call from customs telling us we're not allowed in the marina! We have to leave and go to anchor outside. Now this is extremely frustrating (to say the least) and no-one there can guarantee us that we'll get cleared that night. One guy (who remains on board as we go out to anchor) keeps muttering he'll be back the next morning!

All is not lost however as shortly after we tie to a mooring ball, a rib comes out to us with someone on it who knows what he's doing. He takes out passports and other information and promises he will be back as soon as he can and that the neccessary formalities shouldn't be a problem.

What to do in the meantime...

Tim calls the agent in Hurghada and is told that he will be there to meet us and is made aware of flights booked. We're told that shouldn't be a problem and all, at this stage, is looking good.

Again the grib was accurate and the wind kept us from making good speed towards Hurghada until early morning. When it did drop off and the sea flatted we were then making 10 knots on course to our destination :-)

We're now north of the Egypt/Sudan border and as we get closer to the Egyptian coastline start to see the mountains.

ETA is tomorrow (28th) at around 1600 hours.

We've been getting grib files via mailasail and on the whole they've been pretty accurate. Local anomalies, as always, exist but they've been fairly good in terms of wind direction, speed and timing.

It therefore comes as no surprise when we start getting northerly winds when we are North of Jeddah, Sea state is not much but it's enough to slow us down to around 4 knots sometimes. We don't have a main sail and our ability to go to windward with any force is non-existant: on one particular 12-hour period, our distance run is pathetic and it's looking like we're now not going to be arriving until the 29th. Not much of a problem there but Annie has been hunting around for flights and has got me one at 0600, from Hurghada, ON THE 28th!!

Let's hope the next 12 hours of grib is wrong and the wind is due to get lighter earlier than forecast.

One positive though is we do catch pur only fish of the trip:

Sunset's can be spectacular:

...to one and all!

Hardly merry on board but now we're only a few days from our destination they'll taste better when we arrive :-)

Tim's turn to cook today and he knocks up a delicious Christmas dinner (sorry Tim, at time of writing I can't remember what it was :-) and the day passes with flat calms and no danger from ships or anything, happy days!

The following winds didn't last much past midday yesterday and after a few hours the sea state had dropped to calm.

Weather forecast is typicla of this time of year and we expect light airs for the next day or so and then northerlies for the last 600 or so miles.

We're not really bothered on board as we're now in a 'safe' area and we finish our four hours on - four hours off dual watches and go back on to 2 hours on, 6 off - happy days

Fishing looks to be getting better and Sam reals one in:

Ah well, who cares, Christmas tomorrow

Decent following winds from the end of the corridor all the way to the Red Sea see us surfing up to 16 knots going through the Large Strait between Djibouti and Yemen.

Nice to get a phone signal and to get belated birthday messages and, obviously, to be able to send some. An hour later and all was lost - c'est la vie :-)

237 nm to the Saudi border

Another one bites the dust!

Our last day in the corridor before we head NW to the entrance to the Red Sea.

A glorious sunrise seas a warship-escorted convoy of merchant vessels heading East.

It's always nice in this area to see coalition warships or aircraft and I liked the fact that this convoy (of 25+ merchant ships) was escorted front and back by warships: now I have no idea what they must pay to have this escort but I bet it isn't petty cash!!!

What I also liked was seeing, about 2 miles from the back of the convoy was another merchant vessel following them whose owner gets their ship escorted for no additional cost - merry christmas

The planning for this delivery had started many months ago by Tim and Annie when they got on board in Mumbai.

We'd all done our own bit of planning, keeping up with news, etc., and were aware that the main piracy threat now seems to be focused on the East coast of Somalia and not the Gulf of Aden: over the last few months approximately 40 warships are not patrolling the GOA.

Nevertheless, this doesn't detract from the fact that the threat most definitely exists and it pays, as always, to be professional and to be diligent.

Being an unarmed vessel our only options are to run away: as an ex-soldier this doesn't sit well with me but given any likely situation and the local balance of [fire]power, there is no alternative.

Anyway, the weather forecast was very good and we had full tanks so made good progress from Salalah to the entrance of the corridor.

We had a few fishing dhows close by on the way there but no suspicious activity. In fact, other than one other [non]suspicious looking dhow on the afternoon of the second day in the corridor, there was no threat or potential danger from pirates.

HOWEVER, what there was a danger from was - and there was quite a bit of that - large merchant vessels WITHOUT any lights on at night - w*****rs! Now for those of you who don't sail, this is in direct contravention of the international regulations for the prevention of collision at sea.

Our first night in the corridor there was a vessel heading East with no lights on. For some reason it then decides to cut across our path - very close by! Now not only are we motoring with correct lights on, in a designated channel that we have permission to be in, but they are contravening every possible regulation I can think of.

In addition to collision avoidance our main thoughts are towards is that a pirate vessel, running dark, coming towards us?

Anyway, it passes to the North and then stops, EVERY SINGLE LIGHT ON THE VESSEL COMES ON (this is standard procedure in the event of a suspected pirate attackt) and they start calling for a coalition warship.

We try and call them on the VHF and tell them we are the vessel they are scared of but they tell us to clear the airways. We carry on our way and inform UKMTO of this incident.

Ten minutes later they call us on VHF and apologise - wankers! Apparently they have a security team on board who are in charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Must be scary being in a 200'+ metal vessel with a top speed in excess of 20 knots and a security team (with weapons) on board.

Oh yeah, didn't know if I mentioned the name of their vessel: GEOCELTIC, that's GEOCELTIC, GEOCELTIC, GEOCELTIC, GEOCELTIC, GEOCELTIC, GEOCELTIC, GEOCELTIC, GEOCELTIC, that'll be GEOCELTIC then - wankers!

We had extra fuel storage containers on board but didn't have enough to motor all the way from start to finish.

The sails on the yacht are in a poor condition and only the jib is useable: the main sail is in a terrible state and cannot be relied on for any weather conditions.

Consequently we have to stop to refuel before getting to the Red Sea. Choices were Djibouti or Salalah and, given current updates fro UKMTO, the decision is Salalah.

Mohammed Saad (99499390/99088206), an agent in Salalah, was contacted prior to leaving Dubai and again before getting to Salalah. I got his information off of the internet and other postings stated he was very good. He is to arrange our clearance, fuel, etc., and due to our delays in leaving Dubai we hope that he can arrange this quickly so we don't have to stop overnight.

He doesn't disappoint! He is ther eon arrival and handles the clearance, the fuel, fresh fruit, Omani sim card and top-up vouchers all in a matter of hours.

Fuel arrives by truck (in 40 Gallon containers) and is siphoned into the tanks and containers via local lads and all is in, cleaned up, food eaten, cleared out and departed by 2100 hours.

Now for the fun bit, the Gulf of Aden

A busy night after leaving Dubai: lots of shipping, rigs and other stuff about.

My watch happens to be quiet and after my 6 hours off watch (whole night in my bunk - bliss :-) we've rounded the Straits of Hormuz and are in the Gulf of Oman.

Beautiful sunrise over Iran:

and the stunning mountains of Oman:

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We are cleared out (at a cost of £1,000 approx - don't want to cruise here :-) but still have problems with the shaft seals. As we can't leave, we have to clear in again: [unnecessary] problem, [unnecessary] problem, [unnecessary] problem!

The new one's are still not doing the job so Tim decides to put the [5-year old] seals back in to see if that works.

It's going to be far easier with someone in the water so we go and get some dive equipment.

I kit up and go in the water and fiddle about with the prop and shaft whilst the grease-monkeys do the dirty.

It does!

We can leave (once we clear customs again, another £1,000)

The initial departure date was the 9th and we'd engaged a company to facilitate departure (and paid the fee) but customs insisted we had to move into a marina in order to get permission to leave.

There's no problem with this it's just that the marina we were told to go to was the Jumeira Beach marina, nice enough in itself. next to a couple of resorts and a staggering £350 per night mooring fee.

Now you don't get whistles and bells with this, just the pleasure of tying the yacht alongside and being able to step off and go for a walk.

We have to do this to get clearance to leave. Nice view though

Tim, Annie and Sam had a helluva problem getting the boat prepared, ready to go and actually nursing My Way the 1,200 nm from Mumbai to Dubai but the problems most certainly aren't over.

The Yanmar techs are still working on the exhaust problem, the shaft seals on both engines are still leaking and it doesn't look good to go.

Dubai was chosen as this was the place in this part of the world where it was hoped the work could be done. Tim spoke of the catalog of work that had already taken place and a lot of it was just not up to scratch: not for this delivery, in THIS part of the world.

Add to that the immigration and customs problems, the actual cost of all this and I'm pleased it's not my wallet emptying.

One of the problems - and this is faced in a lot of countries, not just here - is actually getting the nexessary gear/spares/equipment.

Sam and myself spend a few days hunter-gathering.

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Off to Dubai today.

Up at 2 am to drive to Heathrow.

Roads are clear so get down there in good time and then check in at terminal 2.

Flight to Zurich leaves on time but the security at Zurich is painful. Very thorough but we land, are shuttled off the plane straight to the security area and are then made to go through again - why? Where do they think we have been since security at Heathrow: complete waste of time and f**k about!

Flight leaves in due course for Dubai and is heaving. Land a little bit late and immigration is slow.

Annie meets me outside and a taxi to the Irish Village and a few beers with Tim, Sam, Annie and Jonny.

Back to the boat in due course and a messy one drinking till 6 am - ouch!

Flew with Jet Airways again. The long leg of the flight (Mumbai to London) is fairly pleasant (in as far as long-haul cattle class can be), but the Bangkok to Mumbai leg starts off the worst ever!

I'm seated in the row in front of the emergency exit row. This means that I can't recline my seat as it's an emergency exit row but the seat in front of me can!!

In addition to no in-flight entertainment, this means I have bugger all leg room and about 5 inches of room infront of my head: not even enough room to read a book.

Fortunately there is a spare seat in the emergency exit row behind me and I slot into that: pity the other poor sods who have to stay in the EA+1 though.

Shouldn't be allowed or at the very least, they should give those seats away free!

Tim contacted me about a dleivery of the 70' custom-built catamaran that he is on from Dubai to Hurghada, Egypt.

Sounds good so after talking it over with Jane, and following confirmation from the owner on rates, expenses, etc., we're on!

Flights and hire car are booked, next stop UK (need my wet weather gear).

Two days later they are back and refit the serviced injectors and fuel pump.

A quick 20 minute sea trial and the engine appears to be okay.

We moor inside the Corinth yacht Harbour and prepare to leave the yacht.

Claire, Dave and myself have been on the yacht for 15 days and are 38 nm from our start point.

With 3000 still to go, at this rate, it'll be 2014 before we're finished and all of us are extremely fed up with the job, the delays, the yacht, the overall neglect and, basically, all of it.

I know these things happen but the yacht has been sitting in Marina Delta for nearly 8 months and nothing was done on it to maintain it.

As a delivery skipper/crew, you expect to have to do a certain amount to prepare the yacht for the passage but a line has to be drawn when basic 'things' aren't done.

Ah well, can't win 'em all, back to the UK then.

An engineer is sourced from Athens and comes to the yacht.

He quickly diagnoses the problems as:

- water in the diesel.
- possible problem with the injectors.
- HP fuel pump.

Here's the engine running at 1900 rpm:

Him, and his oppo, empty the fuel tank and there is no evidence of water in the diesel!

They then remove the injectors and fuel pump and depart the yacht.

Well, to cut a long story short and without getting too graphic, the 'reaming' I had from the port authorities here would have been a tad better had I gone equipped with a large jar of vaseline!!

I was always under the impression that assistance for ships in an emergency situation had to be provided under International Maritime Law. Guess I kinda got that wrong.

Even though I never saw the inside of a Greek jail, there was a time on the Monday when I thought I might! The authorities were @$#%&@#'ds.

Anyway, the situation (engine-wise) was escalated (there's not much in terms of yacht support in Corinth) and George, the previous owner, came to the yacht to assist.

Both of us went to the port authorities and, surprisingly :-), as he is Greek, the whole [paperwork] situation was quickly resolved, and very amicably at that - strange that - bastards!

1.3 nm SW of the canal is the Corinth Marina.

Headsail out, engine on and we head towards the marina.

Manage to moor safely in the main harbour the fun starts.

As the yacht was orignally owned by a Greek (now it has a Finnish flag) I was told by the Port Police in Athens that as I was leaving and wasn't stopping then I didn't need a transit log.

As our next port of call was Reggio di Calabria in Italy the plan was too save some cash and head straight there - no wind so we had enough fuel to motor.

Problem is, now we have stopped, albeit in an emergency situation, there's now a big problem [for me].

One problem after another...each time getting worse.

The stern gland was properly repaired this time by the previous owner George.

We then headed off at 0800 the next morning (5th) and motored all the way to the east end of the Corinth Canal. Tied up, paid the canal transit fee and then, when permitted, slipped lines and followed another yacht into the canal.

And then the next problem started. The engine started fluctuating - BADLY - revving low, racing high and white smoke billowing out of the exhaust.

Halfway through the engine sounded like it was going to die! More comfortable at lower revs we nursed the yacht to the end of the canal (gawd knows what the fine would be for breaking down and blocking the canal?).

I called the canal authroities and requested permission to stop at the west-end dock but was told to go to the marina...

Will we make it?

Managed to get an 'engineer' yesterday who came to the yacht and 'fixed' the leak from the stern gland.

Everything seemed fine, no water coming in when stationary, engine on in neutral or when on and in gear, so all up at 0515, cup of coffee and slipped from Marina Delta at 0600.

At 0700, on checking the engine bay, we see that we've got more water coming in now, lots more than a couple of days ago.

Turn straight around and another hour back to Marina Delta.

Won't tell you my thoughts of the bodge job by the local 'engineer' but hopefully the problem is now sorted and we can leave tomorrow, get through the Corinth Canal and get clear of Greece AND finish this delivery.

We left Alimos marina shortly after 12 o'clock to try and make the Corinth Canal before nightfall.

Two hours out of Alimos and a check of the engine bay showed lots of water in it again - too much!

The impeller is running fine but this time the leak is from the stern gland - and the water is streaming in.

We stop the boat and tighten the flange, this appears to have stemmed the flow so we continue.

An hour later, the engine bay is rapidly filling up again and the leak is as before...not good!

It's too risky to push on so we head back to where we left and, as there's no room for us, then head 2nm north to Marina Delta...back where we began.

Only problem is there is literally nothing here so it may prove difficult to source an engineer.

Ah well, tomorrow's another day

Arrived in Athens and got onto the yacht at about 10 pm.

Another pleasant journey courtesy of One Railway (or wahtever it is they call themselves these days) and EasyJet .

Spent the first couple of days going over and sorting out the boat ready to deliver it the 3,000 nm to Kiel and realising, in the process, what joys a 21-year old boat bring.

Apart from the general weariness of the boat there are the blocked sink outlets, blocked shower drains, substandard cooker, no manuals for anything, no boat diagrams, in fact, very little; guess I've just been spolit in the past.

Also, at Marina Delta in Athens, there is NOTHING here, nothing!

It was built for the Olympic games and, in subsequent years, nothing else has been added: no shops, bars, restaurants, chandlers, fuel pontoon, nowt!!

As a result, we moved the boat 2 nm this morning to Marina Alimos to finish provisioning, to refuel, take on water and then to depart...oh no!

On our huge trip down here (an hour), the engine bay was starting ti fill up with water.

This was flooding out of the impeller housing and, seeing as the impeller is okay, seems that the seals within the housing itself are washed...

Now to see tomorrow if we can get replacements...ho hum!!

Fly out of Gatwick on Friday afternoon to join the yacht for delivery to Kiel, Germany.

This one will be a fairly long trip taking around about a month.

Weather's grim at the moment but I hope it'll improve in the Eastern Med by the end of the weekend.

I have two experienced crew with me on this one, Dave and Claire so should be a good one

Still waiting to hear about a possible transat from La Rochelle to Fort Lauderdale I receive an email about a possibility of another delivery from Athens to Kiel, Germany

Spend the last couple of days in Cuba seeing 'old' friends and then Norm gives me a lift to the airport.

The check-in and clearance through security is a doddle (now why did I think it was going to be a problem?) and the flight leaves only half-an-hour late.

Manage to book a hotel via Cancun airport and am safely tucked up in my hotel room by 7 pm.

My mouth has been sore, on and off, for the last three weeks and I finally decide to go and see a doctor about it.

Norm comes with me to translate and basically, I have an infection!

The doctor asks how long I have had this and when I reply he naturally asks why it has taken me so long to come and see him?

"Because you'd tell me I can't drink alcohol," says I.

He then writes me a prescription for antibiotics and hands it to me.

"Also," says he, "no alcohol, 7 days!"

See, I was right!

We managed to get a weather report (cheers Pete) and it looks like the weather for the next three days is going to deteriorate.

Our original schedule was to be in La Coloma for the 18th where Norm was going to pick me up.

It's now looking like this is going to be extremely unlikely so Dave and I have a chat and says he is going to cancel his remaining 3 dives with the center and move to the south coast before the cold front comes in.

Faced with sitting at anchor for 3 days in crap weather, and not being able to get to La Coloma, or a nice comfortable bed near Havana... No brainer!

I decide to get off and Dave clears out.

Cheers mate, the last two weeks have been a blast.

Photos from the two dives:

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Over to the center at 8 am and book in for the dives.

Mine costs me 80CUC for a two tank dive. 35 each for the dives and 10 CUC rental for the equipment.

Can't remember the names of the dive sites but both dives are very good.

In addition to the dives, the boat guys caught a fish about 2 minutes after leaving the dock:

Anchor of MLG and go ashore and check-in.

Dave and I lay a bet that they search the yacht here; I'm pleased to say he won! This is the first time we've stopped and they haven't searched the yacht - a miracle!

The officials here are very friendly and the process is completed fairly quickly.

Over to the dive center and book two dives for the following day - yee ha!!

Another grim place in Cuba.

We are forbidden from going ashore here so just drop anchor off of a small, dilapidated village and wave to the locals who wave back.

Some of these shacks don't even have complete roofs, shocking. Surprise, surprise, the best building in the place is the guard post.

This night at anchorage has to be the worst I've ever spent. Wind from the north and the swell from the west.

The yacht rolled all night and after a restless night are glad to leave when the weather improves the following morning.

Up at 6, kettle on and then up-anchor and away we go.

Should be in Maria La Gorda by mid-day so we push on past Cabo San Antonio lighthouse and officially enter the Caribbean

We arrive in MLG at 1230 but the wind is from the North and, once again, there is no protection from the North.

We decide to go and drop anchor on the north side of the bay off of La Badaja.

We were told by the immigration guy that the lagoon here is protected; there is NO protection for yachts here.

Any serious wind and this is not a place to be.

We go ashore, clear in (paperwork, boat search, you know the score by now) and then sit down for a few beers.

Carlos, the manager here, is very knowledgeable and helpful and says we can eat in the restaurant there if we wish.

Now there's no other yacht here, there is no village, town, resort or anything so we decide to walk down the road to the resort we anchored off earlier.

This takes 30 or so minutes and we sit down to order a meal and are told the restaurant doesn't open for another hours-and-fifteen!

We walk back to the 'marina' and Carlos cooks up a very nice fish dinner.

After that, back to the yacht, watch a movie and then heads down for a 6 am start tomorrow.

Next stop Maria La Gorda, Cuba's premier dive resort!!

We get in the dinghy and go ashore.

100m to the resort reception and the bar :-).

The receptionist hints that we can't anchor here and calls the marina.

We sit down for a beer, chill out and watch the local wildlife:

Half-an-hour later up pulls jeep and out gets a guy from the marina. It turns out that we are not allowed to anchor here and must go around to the marina - WHY? Cuba!!!!!

He also tells us that there is customs there, ministry of the interior AND IMMIGRATION. It turns out that the marina Gaviota is a clearance port!!

It's only been open for four years so that explains why the officials in Santa Lucia didn't know about this place! What a waste of 85CUC to go to Pinar Del Rio (taxi fare, visa and tips).

One is getting a little hacked off with this place now. Travelling Cuba is fine if you are on land, on a yacht, forget it!

Ah well, cancel the darts fellas!

Around to the marina we go.

Up anchor and push south towards the Las Tumbas resort at the west end of Cuba. The Lonely Planet says there is a dive center here and where there's adive center there's normally a resort.

A few miles later we get a call on the VHF from the marina saying to come to 'their' marina.

We decide to push on and anchor off the beautiful Las Tumbas beach.

We push on for a couple of short days, anchoring each night. For some strange reason, being away from the prying eyes of the Guarda Frontera, Ministry of the Interior, etc., does wonders.

Obviously nothing illegal is going on but one detects a sense of paranoia in this country. Still, their laws, their rules.

We move out to the reef at the west end of Cuba and drop anchor. Gear up and then drop in in about 13m of water.

There's not much to see but it sure feels good to get the dive gear on and get in the water again.

My visa is sorted out (I have one more month) so back to the yacht, the necessary formalities: Guarda Frontera, search the yacht (again), and then we up anchor and leave.

We only go a couple of hours North of Santa Lucia and drop anchor off of Cayo Restinga Del Palo and breathe a huge sigh of relief at getting away from that place.

Managed to pick up some fish from a local before we left so Dave cooks it:

Well, I don't think I have seen any place on the planet as depressing as Santa Lucia.

Any industry that was here has long since shut down (after the collapse of the Soviet Union) and the main employment here is agriculture.

Within the town, there is literally NOTHING here.

Cuba has schools, it has a health system, it has a police force (boy, does it have a police force), it has communist (committee) 'buildings', it has the CDR (Committees for the Defense of the Revolution) but as for what you and I are familiar with...it has nothing!

One small shop/counter selling 'basic' items such as toiletries, cigarettes, some sweets, cold drinks (but that's it).

One bakery, one place to get your ration of meat, two bars (one open in the day and one at night apparently?).
Now, don't even think these in any way shape or form resemble a bar you may find in another country - they don't! More like concrete emplacements selling rum (more often than not there are no soft drinks) and, occasionally, beer.

We met a local guy who took us around SL and helped us obtain some bread. We had a beer in the bar and told us of this place.

As our friend said, "...we are in a tunnel, unfortunately there is no light at the end of it!"

He also said, that his one wish is, before he dies, to be free!

I sincerely hope I never have to see another place like this and feel immense sadness for these people. I sincerely hope that things will improve.

We arrive at Santa Lucia and tie up alongside a run-down, rusty concrete dock.

The Guarda Frontera come on board and after the necessary we ask if I can renew my visa here.

The officer-in-charge goes to telephone to see.

[To summarise:]

"No", comes the reply, "Marina Hemingway, Pinar Del Rio or Maria La Gorda."

I am, however, still legal in Cuba today so once the formalities are complete we go ashore to have a look around and pick up some bread, milk, etc.

Apparently there's a cold front moving in tomorrow so we decide to push off after just one night in La Esperanza.

The next stop is Santa Lucia and it's here that I need to get my visa renewed.

The Cuba guidebook is slightly negative about this place (maybe due to the sulphuric acid plant and other industry) - ah well, hopefully not there too long. It also offers excellent protection from the weather.